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It will be High School/Middle School Day on Saturday afternoon at Larry Carpenter Stadium when Lee opens the 2020 baseball season against Urbana University (Ohio). Free admission and free hot chocolate will help highlight the weekend opener. The first pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
 
"As always, we welcome the Bradley County community to all our home games and admission is free for all local residents," said head coach Mark Brew.
 
Brew begins his 14^th season as head coach of the Flames. His club welcomes the team from western Ohio for the second straight year. Last March Lee overwhelmed the Blue Knights in the opening game of the doubleheader but lost the nightcap 4-3. Rain forced cancellation of the final game of the three-game series.
 
About the Blue Knights:
Urbana is coached by Jake Oester, who enters his fourth season of directing the Blue Knights. A graduate of the University of Toledo, Oester played for three years in the Chicago White Sox organization. Urbana is a D2 school and a member of the Mountain East Conference. The Blue Knights are picked to finish third in the MEC and senior outfielder Chase Carney, who hit 371, joins Tyler Dellerman as being named to the NCBWA All-Atlantic Region preseason team. Dellerman was named the 2019 MEC Player of the Year, batting .306, with nine homers and 36 RBI.
 
Coach Brew About Urbana:
"Urbana returns several key pieces from their 2019 offense. It will be a great challenge for our pitchers early. Coach Oester has the program trending upwards and it will be a good test overall to start the season."
 
Getting Ready for Opener:
"It's always a challenge with a short window to prepare for the first game, but it's the same for all the teams that open on the first weekend," explained Coach Brew. "We have been able to get the necessary work in, including a scrimmage this past weekend against Cleveland State. We pitched well in that scrimmage and our defense has shown improvement from last year. The offense did a really good job in putting up 17 runs in 14 innings.  It's impossible to be totally ready to go in three weeks, but I like where we are currently, and we are excited to get the 2020 season underway."
 
Flames Starting Pitching Announced:
Junior flame-thrower Logan Workman will get the start in the opener. He worked 16 innings posting a 4-3 record and a 4.35 ERA. He will be followed by a senior transfer from UT-Knoxville, Alex Harper-Cook, and Alan Carter, a junior transfer from Columbus State (Georgia) will work the finale.
 
Options in infield and outfield:
"We could play multiple lineups, so I really don't want to say where we will be in the starting lineup," noted the Lee skipper. Brew will look toward upper classmen to lead his hitting attack. Red-shirt senior catcher Justin Fragale hit .317 last season, scored 20 runs to go along with 27 RBI. Junior Thomas Zazzaro, who will likely see duty as an infielder and pitcher in the series, batted .301 with 46 hits and 25 RBI. Red-shirt senior Alan Smith can be used at multiple spots in the infield. He banged out 39 hits and posted a .305 average. The Flames will also call on the speed of senior Parker Stahlman in patrolling the outfield and taking advantage of his speed on the base paths. Senior outfielder Landon Silver could be a key after missing most of last season with an injury.